Once the butt of jokes about shopping trolleys and pollution, canals have, over the last decade, become an important focus for urban and rural renewal.

Half of our waterways flow through government priority areas for investment and regeneration, and British Waterways is influencing and enabling an estimated £10 billion worth of projects to revive waterfronts . . . → Read More: Canals as a focus for community renewal

You may have seen the news that Olympic medal winner Andy Holmes was seriously ill with Weil’s disease and subsequently passed away this weekend.

Weil’s disease or Leptospirosis is contracted through contact with water carrying urine from infected animals (especially rats and cattle). As well as being notorious amongst water-sports participants, it has also been . . . → Read More: Weil’s Disease – a warning to waterways users

The British Marine Federation (BMF), which represents over 1,400 members who employ more than 35,000 people in the UK marine industry, has broadly supported the plans to convert British Waterways into a new waterways charity (NWC).